Travelling Northern Spain

When most people travel Spain, they go see the highlights: Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, and Granada. The big four. While I obviously went to all four, I wanted to see something a bit different as well, so I decided to go tour Northern Spain as well.

I decided (for some crazy reason) to take a nine hour overnight bus from Madrid to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

I arrived at nine in the morning, after getting almost no sleep, and realized that it was pouring rain. And being totally unprepared, I had my peacoat and a toque, and no umbrella. Great thinking, Khalid.

Compostela is the capital of Galicia, one of the autonomous provinces of Spain. It is the end of the Way of Saint James, a pilgrimage route which people still take today, which ends at the Cathedral of Santiago. This is also allegedly the resting place of Saint James the Great, one of the apostles in Christianity.

The cathedral was amazing! I got there first thing in the morning and stayed for morning mass- which was held in a small chapel. It was a really powerful service, even though I couldn’t understand most of the Spanish.

I also got to stay for the main mass, held in the main section of the Cathedral, which was really big and even more powerful. I’m not a particularly religious person, but it was really cool to see people praying together.

Here are some pictures:

Since there isn’t much to do in Compostela, I had a quick bite to eat then took another overnight bus to San Sebastian in the Basque region of Spain.

Because I’m so smart (not) I took a bus which arrived at 6am and I couldn’t check into the hostel till 11. After the sun started coming up, I walked into town and wandered down by the water:

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As I wandered, I found myself climbing this hill and came to the top of this old fort (which was one of the top tourist attraction besides the beach in the city) and watched the sunrise:

At the top of the hill is a giant statue of Jesus watching over the city:

Wandering some more, I found my way to a cafe called Quebec Cafe. Naturally I stopped and had some of the best Crepes I’ve ever had.

San Sebastian is known also for its amazing beaches. It was pretty cold while I was there- too cold to swim- but not too cold for selfies

Or for ice cream! Although when is it ever too cold for ice cream

San Sebastian was a beautiful town, and Northern Spain is an underrated part of the country. I’m so glad I made the trip out!